Trigun: Badlands Rumble (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

September 12, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Vash the Stampede and friends are back in an action-packed film with destruction galore! Audiophiles who have been clamoring for an anime film on Blu-ray with awesome lossless audio will definitely love the lossless, immersive track for this film! And for “Trigun” fans, this Blu-ray release is fantastic and packed with special features. “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” is highly recommended!

TITLE: Trigun: Badlands Rumble

DURATION: 137 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p HD Native (16×9), Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: September 27, 2011

Originally created by Yasuhiro Nightow

Original Story by Satoshi Nishimura, Yasuhiro Nightow

Directed by Satoshi Nishimura

Screenplay by Yasuko Kobayashi

Storyboard by Hideki Inoue, Satoshi Nishimura, Soichi Masui

Music by Tsuneo Imahori

Character Design by Takahiro Yoshimatsu

Art Director: Minoru Akiba

Mechanical Design by Noriyuki Higuji

Sound Director: Yasunori Honda

Anime Production: Madhouse Studios

Featuring the following voice talent:

Hiromi Tsuru/Luci Christian as Meryl Stryfe

Masaya Onosaka/Johnny Yong Bosch as Vash the Stampede

Satsuki Yukino/Trina Nishimura as Milly Thompson

Sho Hayami/Brad Hawkins as Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Maaya Sakamoto/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Amelia

Tsutomu Isobe/John Swasey as Gasback

In town surrounded by quicksand, an outlaw from Vash the Stampede’s past has resurfaced after twenty years. His name is Gasback – and he’s looking to cause a little trouble. It seems Gasback has a serious beef with the town’s mayor, who’s paying dozens of bounty hunters to protect his turf.

One of those hired guns is a beautiful woman with a vendetta against Gasback. Will she get a shot at revenge? Maybe, if she can get through Gasback’s bodyguard, Wolfwood. And what’s Vash got to do with this mess? Nothing much – except for the fact that he personally set off the entire chain of events two decades ago!

In 1996, mangaka and game creator Yasuhiro Nightow (also known for creating the characters and story of the video game and anime series “Gungrave”) published his manga seires “Trigun” in Shonen Gahosha’s “Young King Ours” magazine. Two years later, the manga series received its manga adaptation and aired in April through September 1998.

While the series was not so popular in Japan, the series would become very popular in the United States in 2003 as it aired on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim where it aired along with “Cowboy Bebop”.

By 2005, because of the popularity overseas, rumors of a “Trigun” movie began to surface and in 2007, Nightow confirmed at the US convention Anime Central that it was being developed.

And by 2010, the movie “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” would have its premiere in Japan and would have its debut at Sakura-Con 2010 in Seattle (without any dubbed voice overs or subtitles) and not long after, FUNimation Entertainment had licensed the film which would be released in theaters and a subtitled version of the film would be screened at Anime Expo 2010.

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” would be directed by Satoshi Nishimura (“Trigun”), a screenplay by Yasuko Kobayashi (“Claymore”, “Death Note”, “Galaxy Angel”, “Shakugan no Shana”), music by Tsuneo Imahori (“Cowboy Bebop”, “Fighting Spirit”, “Trigun”), character design by Takahiro Yoshimatsu (“Slayers”, “Trigun”, “Hunter x Hunter”) and background art by Minoru Akiba (“Pokemon” films, “School Rumble”). Anime production for the film is by Madhouse Studios.

For those not familiar with the original storyline, “Trigun” is a comedy/action series about a man named Vash the Stampede who is accompanied by two Bernadelli Insurance Society employees who follow him in order to minimize damages caused by his appearance. Vash is a wanted man due to his destruction of the City of July and with a bounty of $60 billion dollars on his head, many bounty hunters are after him. He is joined by a priest named Nicholas D. Wolfwood (a mysterious gunfighter and we learn about Vash’s mysterious history and life on the planet Gunsmoke.

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” begins with a bank robbery led by the thief known as Gasback, known for only going after difficult heist that offers the biggest rewards.

But his henchmen including second-hand man Cain have had enough of the danger that Gasback had put them through and he shoots and tries to kill Gasback and tells him that they are no longer going to follow him again and will retire with the money and live a good life with the stolen money. But disturbing their plans is Vash the Stampede, who happens to be in the vicinity and in the process between Vash and Gasback arguing with each other. The henchman escape with all the money, Gasback manages to escape as well, but also unleashing missiles on the city and causing destruction.

But because Vash the Stampede is known for destroying many cities and that Gasback was in the same vicinity, Vash gets linked to the robbery and is seen as the mastermind of the heist.

Fast forward to 20 years later and we learn that Gasback’s original henchman have lived life in luxury since stealing the money but now Gasback wants revenge. We learn that one of the henchman, named Cain Kelper, has become a hero of the city, he used his money to repair the City’s plant damaged by Gasback and eventually becomes the mayor of the city and has a huge statue in his image.

Gasback now wants to steal the statue which was insured for $5 billion and thus, two Bernadelli Insurance Society employees Milly Thompson and Mery Strife travel to Macca City to prevent it from happening, because a theft of something that expensive can easily bankrupt the insurance company.

Meanwhile, Vash also travels to the city and ends up meeting a young woman named Amelia who he starts to flirt with. But it is learned that Amelia develops an allergic reaction when touched by men and thus tries to avoid him.

But quickly we learn that Amelia is a bounty hunter who has traveled to Macca City and is targeting Gasback who has a $300 million bounty on his head.

Meanwhile, Gasback is back in town but also has a new bodyguard who turns out to be Nicholas D. Wolfwood, who was saved by Gasback when he was in the middle of the desert dying of thirst and thus is indebted to protecting the thief.

As Vash the Stampede courts Amelia, Gasback confronts his former henchman Cain and all hell breaks out. As for Amelia, she learns that Vash the Stampede was the person responsible for helping Gasback escape from a bank robbery 20 years ago and tells him that because of his escape, Gasback has affected many lives including her own life but also her mother who died because of Gasback, and that is her true motivation for wanting to catch Gasback…because of revenge.

So, now Vash knowing what his action that he did many years ago had affected Amelia and possibly killed her mother, he wants to help Amelia but not knowing that his old friend Nicholas D. Wolfwood is working for Gasback.

What happens when Amelia and Vash confront Gasback?

VIDEO:

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” is presented in 1080p High Definition (16×9 HD Native). Madhouse Studios did a wonderful job in creating the environment as there are crowds of bounty hunters and people all over Macca City. There is no doubt that the studio wanted to give people a lot of visuals, so you have a good use of beautiful painted backgrounds but also a balance of CG as well.

Character development is well-done and definitely a not to the classic look of “Trigun” but also incorporating a lot of colors and good solid use of character design during the action sequences. So, “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” is a vibrant film with black levels that are nice and deep but for the most part, a wonderful job by Madhouse Studios in making the city feel lively and dangerous at the same time.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” is presented in Dolby TrueHD English and Japanese 5.1. When it comes to lossless audio, I have to say that “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” is perhaps one of the best use of lossless audio in an anime film in the last two years. This is an immersive soundtrack with missiles and bullets, explosions that not only are well-done directionally as sound goes from one end to the other but also a great use of audio as you can feel it via LFE but also having a film that has plenty of action.

I have no doubt in my mind that audiophiles who have been clamoring for an immersive lossless soundtrack for an anime film will love how “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” sounds. Personally, I think this is one of the best lossless, immersive soundtracks that I have heard in an animated film within the last two years.

Also, good use of crowd ambiance and the musical score from Tsuneo Imahori is also awesome as it is used not only from the front channels but also in the surround channels as well.

Optional subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” comes with the following special features:

Interview with Yasuhiro Nightow - (11:08) Featuring an interview with Yasuhiro Nightow (comic author/story concept)
Interview with Masaya Onosaka – (8:59) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actor Masaya Onosaka (Vash the Stampede)
Interview with Satsuki Yukino – (8:31) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actress Satsuki Yukino (Milly Thompson)
Interview with Satoshi Nishimura – (11:06) Featuring an interview with director Satoshi Nishimura
Interview with Show Hayami – (10:00) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actor Show Hayami (Nicholas D. Wolfwood)
Interview with Maaya Sakamoto – (6:43) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actress Maaya Sakamoto (Amelia Ann Mcfly)
Interview with Takahiro Yoshimatsu – (7:26) Featuring an interview with character designer and chief animation director Takahiro Yoshimatsu.
Interview with Hiromi Tsuru – (3:13) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actress Hiromi Tsuru (Meryl Strife)
Interview with Tsutomu Isobe – (7:06) Featuring an interview with Japanese voice actor Tsutomu Isobe (Gasback Gallon Getaway)
Movie Premiere at Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro – (8:47) Featuring the introduction of the cast and director at the movie premiere in Ikebukuro.
Post Recording – (3:51) Behind-the-scenes post-recording with the Japanese voice talent in the studio.
A Mildly Awesome Story by Something Yoshimatsu – (:28) Takahiro Yoshimatsu talks about signing an autograph on someone’s boob at Sakura-Con 2009.
Video Footage from Anime Expo 2009 – (1:38) Featuring the Nightow, Nishimura and Jinguji meeting their fans at AX 2009.
Talk Event at Kawasaki Cinecitta – (3:32) A scene from the ticket raffle at the talk event at Kawasaki Cinecitta.
Special Talk Show – (38:14) Talk show segment with the Japanese voice talent from Kawasaki Cinecitta.
Web Promotion Clip – (1:37) web promo clip for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”.
Promotional Video – (2:24) PV for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”.
Theatrical Commercial – (:37) Japanese theatrical commercial for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”.
Theatrical Trailer – (1:40) The original Japanese theatrical trailer for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”.
Original Commercials – (:49) Commercials for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble”
Trailers – Trailers for upcoming or currently available titles from FUNimation Entertainment.

EXTRAS:

“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” comes with a slipcase.

As a fan of the “Trigun” TV series, I have to say that the announcement of the return of Vash the Stampede and friends was a pretty big deal for many people.

“Trigun” was much popular in the United States than in Japan and many have wanted a return of the characters. The problem is, what warrants a second season or a film for a series is typically how ratings are in Japan and how the merchandise sells.

“Trigun” unfortunately didn’t have the big Japanese backing, nor was it featured in the most popular manga magazine but still, with it being aired during the time of “Cowboy Bebop” on the Cartoon Network, needless to say, “Trigun” was a huge hit in America. But fortunately, its popularity outside of Japan was noted and a standalone film was created.

With that being said, I for one am glad to see Vash and friends back in a new story. But while others probably have had such high hopes in storyline, “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” turned out to be a pretty good story and because a lot of animated films derived from an anime series are typically non-canon, abridged versions of season or just plain bad, “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” features a canon-based storyline that not only delivers in action but also makes for an awesome Blu-ray release!

You have some of the original crew who worked on the TV series, working on this film as well as the Japanese and American voice talent. Because this is a film, production elements are much better than a TV series, especially since “Trigun” is looked at as a old school anime series (it was released back in 1998). So, it’s been 12-years since the TV series aired in Japan and a lot has changed in the anime industry since then.

For this Blu-ray release, I was quite impressed by the animation but also the sheer number of characters featured throughout the film. But the audio of this Blu-ray release is magnificent. The lossless soundtrack is immersive and because this film constantly showcases action sequence after sequence, audiophiles will definitely be impressed by how active the lossless audio track is. It’s been awhile since I have heard a true immersive soundtrack from an anime series or film, so it was great to har “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” via its special effects and ambiance but also its wonderful musical score.

And the special features, I have to say that this is one of the most jam-packed special features on an anime on Blu-ray release in America thus far. Granted, there are series that have plenty of audio commentary but in this case, there was a good amount of interviews with the Japanese voice talent and interviews at movie premieres. So, fans should no doubt be appreciative and happy with the Blu-ray release.

A big question that I was asked was if one had to know about the series or watch it before watching this film and my answer is yes and no. Yes, in the fact that you can see how much destruction there is when Vash the Stampede is around and his relation to the other characters such as Nicolas D. Wolfwood or even Mery Stryfe and Milly Thompson. But there is enough explanation of why Vash is a wanted man and the writers do their best to make things more accessible for those who have never watched the series before. The only thing that people who have never seen the series before will miss out on is the actual relationship Vash has with other characters.

With that being said, the storyline for “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” was enjoyable, but was it great? Not great but good. I guess after 12-years, I know others who watched the film have expected something deep or perhaps people expected something unexpected (perhaps a death of a beloved character)? But with watching so many anime films derived from a TV series, most often the films have better production as expected from a film but the storyline comes up short. So, I try not to have too high of expectations when it comes to animated films based on a series (unless it’s mecha related).

But for the most part, I really enjoyed the presentation, the backgrounds, the music, the action, the lossless audio and the number of special features included in this Blu-ray release. There are many positives that I found with this release and for the most part, I’ve watched this film now three times because I enjoyed it so much.

Overall, if you are a “Trigun” fan, I highly recommend checking out “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” on Blu-ray. It’s a solid release and you get your money’s worth.

Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Rideback: The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

June 29, 2011 by Dennis Amith · 2 Comments

Entertaining from beginning to end! “Rideback” that manages to capture a fine balance between drama and action and managing to not have the typical banalities of similar series like it. If you are looking for a series that does not last too long and is enjoyable from beginning to end, definitely give “Rideback: The Complete Series” a chance!

TITLE: Rideback: The Complete Series

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Dolby TrueHD English 5.1, Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

Release Date: June 28, 2011

Original Created by Tetsuro Kasahara

Directed by Atsushi Takahashi

Screenplay by Hideo Takayashiki

Music by Takafumi Wada

Character Design by Satoshi Tasaki

Anime Production by Madhouse Studios

Featuring the following voice talent:

Nana Mizuki/Tia Ballard as Rin Ogata

Akio Suyama/Chris Burnett as Douta Kawai

Hidekatsu Shibata/T.A Taylor as Nanpuu Kataoka

Hidenobu Kiuchi/J. Michael Tatum as Ryuunosuke Kataoka

Megumi Matsumoto/Trina Nishimura as Suzuri Uchida

Megumi Toyoguchi/Kristi Bingham as Shouko Uemura

Mie Sonozaki/Leah Clark as Yuki Ogata

Rikiya Koyama/Bryan Massey as Tenshirou Okakura

Risa Hayamizu/Jennifer Seman as Misao Yokoyama

Romi Park/Stephanie Young as Tamayo Kataoka

Sanae Kobayashi/Cynthia Cranz as Megumi Yoda

Shinichiro Miki/Jason Douglas as Romanof Karenba (Kalenback)

Toshiyuki Morikawa/Robert McCollum as Kiefer

Yuji Ueda/Micah Solusod as Haruki Hishida

Kazuma Horie/Josh Grelle as Kenji Ogata

After an injury forces Rin to trade her stage career for college life, she finds new thrills as a member of the RideBack Club. When she discovers an unusual connection with one machine in particular – Fuego – she is forced into the middle of a revolution. The tyrannical new government rules with an iron fist, and Rin is reluctant to take them on. But as her dearest friends suffer and the insurgency struggles to topple the increasingly powerful regime, Rin may have no choice but to gun Fuego’s engines and speed directly into the heart of the fight for freedom.

An exciting and intriguing anime series from beginning to end!

“Rideback: The Complete Series” is anime TV series adaptation of the manga series by Tetsuro Kasahara and serialized on “Ikki” magazine from 2003-2009.

The series is directed by Atsushi Takahashi (“NANA”, “Monster”, “Spirited Away”), series composition by Hideo Takayashiki (“Astro Boy”, “Ashita no Joe”, “Master Keaton”), music by Takafumi Wada (“High School of the Dead”) and character designs by Satoshi Tasaki (“Cardcaptor Sakura”, “Fairy Musketeers”, “Ninja Scroll”, “X”). Anime production is by Madhouse Studios.

The story of “Rideback” takes place during a time of post-turmoil in Japan. Terrorists using half mecha/half motorcycles known as Ridebacks have been occurring in various parts of Japan and an organization known as GGP (Global Government Plan) led by Romanov Kalenback is called in to help Japan’s government and rid of the terrorists. Romanov’s goal is to create a police force that would fight back with the use of Ridebacks, while others in leadership do not trust Romanov at all.

While turmoil happens in the background of the anime series, “Rideback” focuses on an up-and-coming ballet dancer named Rin Ogata, the daughter of the ballet superstar Yuki Ogata who is expected to succeed her mother.

Rin is passionate about ballet and loved the rush (indicated by the starry lights that surround her) she would get from performing difficult moves. But one day, while performing in front of an audience, life changed for Rin when she fractured her left foot and tore several ligaments. Rin realizes that to dance at her full potential may have come to an end.

Feeling that she can never dance again, Rin has decided to enter Musashino University with her friend Shoko Uemura. Several students recognize Rin at school, especially Suzuri Uchida, a big fan of Rin’s dancing career. But Suzuri is taken aback when she finds out that Rin may never dance again, a tragedy to Suzuri as she has loved Rin’s dancing and is inspired by it.

Because Rin needs to look for club activities, while thinking about clubs, it begins to rain outside and she takes shelter inside a garage where the Rideback club meets.

This is where she meets Haruki Hishida, an enthusiast of Ridebacks who thinks that Rin is joining the group. Rin tells him that she is just in the garage to wait for the rain to subside, but Haruki insists of showing off a Rideback, in this case, a red Rideback known as Fuego.

Upon getting on Fuego, immediately the Rideback syncs with Rin and when she goes to ride it, immediately it goes haywire and Rin starts driving in fast speed. As Haruki tries to assist her by giving her directions, the head of the Rideback team, Tenshiro Okakura, senses something is wrong and goes to help her.

When Tenshiro gets close to Rin, he notices that a plug that syncs its user to the Rideback has been disconnected and somehow, Rin was able to sync with the Fuego. But as Tenshiro is able to plug the unit back in, instead of stopping, Rin realizes she can pull of her ballet moves through Fuego but also realizes that she can achieve the same rush while riding on Fuego, that she did while she was performing ballet.

Needless to say, Rin joins the rideback team and participates in several competitions and her connection to Fuego continues to grow.

But life for Rin changes immediately when terrorists attack a mall where her friend Shoko is shopping at. Shoko calls Rin in a panic and knowing that police and the GGP have the place sealed off, Rin decides that she can save Shoko through the use of Fuego.

Using her skills, Rin is able to save her best friend but because she is riding a Rideback at the scene of a crime, she becomes associated with the terrorists and becomes wanted by the GGP. Meanwhile, the terrorists known as BMA (Borderless Military Alliance) led by Kiefer also want to find Rin as Kiefer also notices that she has the ability to sync with a Rideback.

What will happen to this normal teenager when the GGP and the terrorists want to catch her?

The main characters of “Rideback” are:

Rin Ogata - The main protagonist and daughter of Yuki Ogata, the talented ballet dancer. Passionate about dancing but also the rush that she experiences through dancing but feels that her days as a ballet dancer are numbered when she fractures her left foot. She has joined the Musashino University Rideback Club and has the ability to sync with a Rideback known as Fuego and is able to use the mecha to dance and achieve that same rush.
Haruki Hishida - The enthusiast of the club who performs maintenance on the Ridebacks.
Tamayo Katoka – The daughter of a powerful (and corrupted) politician, her brother is a higher staff for the police and she happens to be the Rideback racing champion of Japan. Very blunt and tough, she realizes Rin’s true potential on a Rideback.
Tenshiro Okakura – The head of the Rideback team and a person who has a mysterious connection to the terrorist group’s Kiefer and the GGP’s Romanov.
Suzuri Uchida – A hardcore fan of Rin with a bubble personality. Suzuri joins the Rideback Club because Rin joined it.
Shoko Uemura – Rin’s childhood friend and a person who is always rooting for Rin.
Kenji Ogata – Rin’s younger brother who is more interested in Ridebacks.
Kiefer – A soldier of the terrorist group known as BMA (Borderless Military Alliance)

VIDEO:

“Rideback” was a pleasant surprise. At first, I thought this was a typical high school anime series about ballet or racing but it turned out to be a much deeper series in which the characters are put through various emotional and dramatic situations. The character and mecha design for “Rideback” was wonderful and really captured the emotion of the series, but where Madhouse really made a big difference is on the artistic backgrounds and CG work. Colors were vibrant and unlike TV series that tend to look a bit cloudy and soft, not “Rideback”, this is a very vibrant and colorful series.

Because you get both Blu-ray and DVD with this hybrid release, you can see the detail differences of the series and how much colorful, vibrant and detailed the Blu-ray is compared to its DVD counterpart.

I didn’t notice any banding or artifacting, this is a pretty solid series when it came to picture quality and fans of anime on Blu-ray will definitely enjoy watching “Rideback”!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Rideback” features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English soundtrack and really utilizes the sounds of the engine of the Fuego and other Ridebacks wonderfully. With each race and each time we see these Ridebacks on screen (which is very frequent), you can hear the surround channels being fully utilized during each throttle. Audio quality was pretty impressive and also good use of LFE and directionals. It’s important to note that the series does have its high action moments, especially during the final half of the series as there are more explosions and destruction.

The Japanese soundtrack was good but and while I’m grateful for the Japanese soundtrack being on the Blu-ray, I just wished it was in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 rather than 2.0. But both vocal tracks are well-acted and for me, I actually prefer the English vocal track mainly because of the change of dialogue to make it more Western-friendly (and much more mature in dialogue) but also because it uses the surround channels much more and giving a better soundscape over the Japanese soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Rideback: The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

Audio Commentary – Episode 4- Voice director Terri Doty talks to Tia Ballard (who plays Rin) and Kristi Bingham (who plays Shoko).
Audio Commentary – Episode 10 – Voice director Terri Doty talks to Micah Solusod (who plays Haruki) and Trina Nishimura (who plays Suzuri).
Textless Opening Song – Featuring the textless opening theme for the series.
Textless Closing Song – Featuring the textless ending theme for the series.
Trailers - Funimation Entertainment Trailers

“Rideback” was a surprise!

By watching the series, the first thing that came to mind was an anime series like “Moldiver” or even a series like “Gunbuster” in which we see the story of a person inexperienced with a mecha and then managing to learn it and eventually mastering it.

There are many anime series that tend to have that similar storyline but “Rideback” was surprising in the fact that protagonist was a ballet dancer, utilizing her dancing skills on a mecha/motorcycle hybrid and literally kicks ass!

But instead of having this powerful support network, her friends are just regular college students who happen to be part of a Rideback club. The same with the main protagonist. They are not part of the military, nor do they want to. They are just normal teenagers but in this case, Rin having to have mastered/synced with the Rideback known as Fuego.

While the series does start off with a lot of humor, fun and even racing, it quickly changes to a more darker and deeper storyline when Rin becomes wanted by both the GGP and also being looked at as a terrorist. There were a lot of situations that I would have never expected to see in this series, so you can expect some twists and turns and a death that I never saw coming. And yes, it was very sad!

Although a series like “Rideback” could have been extended to a normal 26-episode series possibly, I think that because it’s only 12-episodes long, it makes for a very accessible anime series for those wanting action and drama. It’s not necessarily a full mecha series but you do get a lot of battles in the latter half of the series especially as Rin utilizes Fuego to its fullest potential.

The character and mecha designs are very well-done for this series and the animation and art backgrounds by Madhouse were well-done! And on Blu-ray, the picture quality is absolutely vibrant and colorful. Also, the audio quality was well-done, primarily for the English soundtrack which benefits from its lossless 5.1 soundtrack.

Because this is a hybrid release, you get both the Blu-ray and DVD release in one set.

Overall, “Rideback: The Complete Series” was a series that I watched from beginning to end in one day. Each episode was quite entertaining but its important to note that the more humorous and light-natured moments of the series happens only for a few episodes and then immediately, the series becomes much more serious and dramatic in nature. But also becoming more action-based.

If you are looking for a series that doesn’t last too long and something that is enjoyable from beginning to end, definitely give “Rideback: The Complete Series” a chance!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Anime Expo 2011 Announces Madhouse Studio Creators as Guests of Honor

June 21, 2011 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment

LOS ANGELES (June 21, 2011) – Anime Expo 2011 has announced Tetsuro Araki, Masayoshi Tanaka and Kentaro Hashimoto of Madhouse Studios as Guests of Honor. The trio will be present for a special July 2nd screening of the acclaimed zombie apocalypse series “HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD” and will host a creator’s panel at Anime Expo, when it returns to the L.A. Convention Center from July 1 – 4, 2011.

Tetsuro Araki has engaged with a number of animated TV series, including “Di Gi Charat Nyo” and “GUNGRAVE,” as a Madhouse staff. He makes a shocking directorial debut, with the animation adaptation of the comic series “DEATH NOTE.” Since then he has directed the vampiric saga “Kurozuka” and adapted the zombie apocalypse “Highschool of the Dead.” Mr. Araki is now working with Production I.G. on his new series “Guilty Crown.”

As an animator, Masayoshi Tanaka has worked on popular series such as ”X,” “CHOBITS,” “EUREKA 7,” “HONEY AND CLOVER” and many more. As character designer and chief animator, his most famous works include “TORADORA!,” the animated adaptation of the Shonen Jump series “REBORN!” and “HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD.” He is currently working on “Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai” at A-1 Pictures.

Kentaro Hashimoto has produced mega-hit animated television series like “Death Note” and “Kurozuka”. Mr. Hashimoto has brought out new animated interpretation of the classic literature by Ango Sakaguchi in “Aoi Bungaku: In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom.” His newest series is the acclaimed zombie apocalypse action animated series “Highschool of the Dead.”

The roster of Anime Expo 2011 Guests of Honor includes Japanese pop trio Kalafina; singing sensation Maon Kurosaki; techno pop band Nirgilis; “LASTEXILE -Fam, The Silver Wing-“ production team Koichi Chigira, Makoto Kobayashi, Takaaki Suzuki and Hiroyuki Birukawa; Japanese TV Host and blogger Danny Choo; voice actress and singer Miyuki Sawashiro; voice actors Toshio Furukawa, Vic Mignogna, Toshiyuki Morikawa and Taliesin Jaffe; stars of the Power Rangers series and movies; video game developer Sohei Niikawa; Crypton Future Media CEO Hiroyuki Itoh and Producer Wataru Sasaki; Vocaloid songwriter Onyx Kobayashi; manga artists Izumi Matsumoto and Fred Gallagher and anime director Seiji Mizushima. Anime Expo has also announced Hatsune Miku as its first ever Virtual Guest of Honor. Themed the “Year of the Fan,” Anime Expo 2011 will fully immerse guests into the world of Japanese animation, manga (comic books), music and fashion. Anime Expo is a non-stop marathon of Japanese pop culture that’s been likened to Halloween in July.

To stay updated on all of the latest Anime Expo 2011 news, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and check us out on YouTube.

About Anime Expo
Held annually in Los Angeles, Anime Expo is North America’s largest anime and manga celebration. Anime Expo gives fans the rare opportunity to meet and hear from some of the most famous anime, manga and musical artists from Japan and get into the action through everything from costume play, karaoke and video competitions to exclusive screenings, non-stop video gaming competitions and the wildly popular Masquerade, in which fans transform themselves into their favorite characters through creative costuming, accessories and make-up and put on their own show before an audience of thousands. AX 2011 will be held July 1 – July 4, 2011 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. To register or for more information, please visit www.anime-expo.org.

About the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation
The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to popularize and educate the American public about anime and manga, as well as provide a forum to facilitate communication between professionals and fans. This organization is more popularly known by its entertainment property, Anime Expo®. For more information, please visit www.spja.org.

Filed Under: Anime Related News

Allison & Lillia: Generation 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

May 15, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

From the creator of “Kino’s Journey” comes a story about two generations in Keiichi Sigsawa’s “Allison & Lillia”. Enjoyable characters and intriguing adventures, this anime series is worth checking out!

TITLE: Allison & Lillia: Generation 1

ANIME SERIES BROADCAST: 2008

DURATION: Episodes 1-13 (325 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen, Japanese 2.0, English Subtitles

COMPANY: Sentai Filmworks

RATED: TV 14V

Released on May 17, 2011

Originally Created by Keiichi Sigsawa

Directed by Masayoshi Nishida

Series Composition by Touko Machida

Music by Shusei Murai

Originally Character Designs by Kouhaku Kuroboshi

Character Design by Shinji Seya

Art Director: Masaki Saitou, Masato Shibata

Chief Animation Director: Masaki Saitou, Masato Shibata

Anime Production: Madhouse Studios

Featuring the following voice talent:

Hiroyuki Yoshino as Treize

Nana Mizuki as Allison Whittington/Lillia

Chiwa Saito as Merielle

Hideyuki Tanaka as Acacia/Fran Stork/Oscar Whittington

Houko Kuwashima as Allison Whittington (older)

Kouichi Yamadera as Carr Benedict

Mamiko Noto as Fiona/Francesca

On a world where the single massive continent has been literally cut in two by mountains and rivers since the dawn of time, the ongoing wars between those on the opposing sides have continued for so long that the memory of when they first started has long been forgotten. But now, as the war between the alliances of Roxche and Sou Beil extends the conflict into its 130th year, a chance encounter and a hastily staged rescue attempt launches fighter pilot Allison and marksman and bibliophile Will on an incredible journey – a journey that could possibly end the wars once and for all!

Author Keiichi Sigsawa is best known for his series “Kino’s Journey” but in 2008, Sigsawa began work on the light novel series “Allison” (2002), the sequel “Lillia and Treize” (2007) and “Meg and Seron” (2008).

In 2008, anime production courtesy of Madhouse Studios began in an anime adaptation of with the first half of the anime series being the adaptation of “Allison” and the second half featuring the adaptation of “Lillia and Treize”. The 26-episode anime series was broadcast on NHK and now receives its DVD release with “Allison & Lillia: Generation 1″ (the first 13 episodes) in the US courtesy of Sentai Filmworks.

The anime series is directed by Masayoshi Nishida (“Eyeshield 21″, “Benkai and Ushiwakamaru”, “Princess Knight”) and series composition by Touko Machida (“Tears to Tiara”, “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?”, “Lucky Star”). Character designs are by Shinji Seya (“Dr. Pinoko no Mori no Boken”, “Astro Boy” and Aoi Blink”) and music by Shusei Murai (“Ultraviolet: Code 044″, “Soten Koro”, “Mai Mai Miracle”).

“Allison & Lillia” takes place during a time during temporary peace of warring countries that share the same continent but one is from the west and the east, each claiming that they were the first to occupy the continent.

The Roxcheanuk Confederation (Roxche) is responsible for the east and has 16 countries, while the west is occupied by the United Kingdom of Bezel Iltoa (Sou Beil) which has two kingdoms (Bezel and Iltoa) and have several countries in their region and both countries have been in war for the past 130 years. Both speak the same language but while both countries are currently in an armistice for ten years, people know that war can erupt anytime soon.

The story begins when pilot Allison Whittington of the Roxche Air Force visits her good friend Wil Schultz, an intelligent student of the prestigious Rowe Sneum Upper School. While the two were together, they meet a friend of Wil, an older man who tends to have a wild imagination but he tells them a story about treasure in the western region of Sou Beil which could end the conflict between both warring regions. At first the two think he’s just joking but they soon realize that he was a former soldier that was told to keep the treasure a secret.

Feeling that this could end the war, the three decide to find the treasure, especially since Allison can pilot an airplane and get to that area. But someone from the town hall has come and has taken the old man away and kidnapped him. Now Allison and Wil go to look for the old man.

And as they go to rescue him, both Allison and Wil become targets for execution and the man to lead the hunt after them is Lt. Carr Benedict, a pilot in the Soul Beil Air Force.

But in the end, Lt. Carr Benedict is made a hero when Allison and Wil do find the treasure, a mural which will end the war but let Lt. Benedict take the glory. This will begin the adventures of Allison, Wil and Carr as the three meet girl from a village who claims to be the Princess of the royal family of Ikstova, who was thought to be dead after the royal palace was burned down.

Fiona wants to attend a political speech but also to interrupt it and inform the people of Ikstova that the princess who was thought to be killed ten years ago has survived and that she has returned.

Will the three manage to help Fiona claim her place back in royalty? And what will happen Allison and Wil? And will the war between Sou Beil and Roxche actually end?

It’s important to note that the title “Allison & Lillia” is in reference to Allison and her daughter Lillia and the storyline is structured to showcase the generations of characters. Allison and Wil are the first generation, while their daughter Lillia becomes part of generation two and the focus of the second half of the storyline.

For this first half, we get to see Allison and Wil in different stages in their lives as they grow older also seeing the adventures that the two partake in together.

VIDEO:

“Allison & Lillia” is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (16:9). While I do like the character designs and also the use of airplanes, it’s important to note that this series is focuses more on close-ups and mid-shots as a lot of the dialogue and action take place in the sky while they are riding on airplanes or down below on ground and what you see mostly are trees.

There are some scenes that do have wonderfully painted backgrounds such as when the storyline gets to the Fiona/Francesca storyline in Ikstova and also when you get to the third storyline that deals with the mysterious man in Allison and Wil’s life. But the series does tend to focus on close-ups but for the most part Madhouse Studios did a very good job on the series.

If anything, this is a series that relies on the storytelling of Keiichi Sigsawa and his focus on the characters.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Allison & Lillia: Generation 1″ is presented in Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with English subtitles. The acting is well done and while the series is front channel driven, for those with a modern receiver can easily set their receiver to stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundscape. But overall, dialogue is clear and subtitles are yellow and easy to read.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Allison & Lillia: Generation 1″ comes with no special features.

In Japan, you occasionally run into stories on television ala drama such as as the popular “Kita no Kuni Kara” or “3-Nen B-Gumi Kinpachi Sensei” which focuses on various time periods of the life of characters and how the characters will have children and the series would then spin-off to focus on those children.

While we do see some of that on mecha anime series such “Macross”, there hasn’t been many anime TV series that takes the time to focus on generations of characters. For writer Keiichi Sigsawa, he did that with his light novel series “Allison & Lillia” and the purpose was to begin with the first generation to showcase Allison & Wil and then to have a transition episode which would carry on to the second half featuring their daughter, Lillia.

And like mother and father, Lillia will get herself in trouble as well. But along the way, we have to see through the adventures of these characters of what they do in life and how they gradually grow up and for some, their job is everything and for others, their family is more of the focus.

The first half of “Allison & Lillia”, the focus is more on the adventures of Allison & Wil but also their friend Carr Benedict and Fiona. And while the series does have its share of action, if anything, it’s the gradual growth of love that Allison has always felt for Wil, leaving the audience to wonder if Will can actually see that his good friend is in love with her? Will he acknowledge her or not?

While the series starts out discussing the war between those who occupy a continent and I was expecting a wartime story, it becomes less of that and more about the characters. Even the character designs and the animation tends to favor close-ups and mid-shots and not showcase so much background art, as most of the time, you will see a lot of clouds, blue skies and a lot of trees.

But “Allison & Lillia: Generation 1″ turned out to be an enjoyable anime series, especially when you get to the Fiona/Francesca storyline which was well-written, especially episode 13 when we see what happens between Allison and Wil (a very emotional episode), but you can’t help but feel that you are being setup for a more serious storyline for the second half of the anime series.

As for the DVD, the DVD doesn’t feature any special features at all, so it is a barebones DVD release but at the same time, you do get all 13 episodes in this first DVD volume. I would rather have more episodes on a release if that meant little to no special features but it would have been nice to have something included, even if it meant the Japanese promotional trailers or commercials.

Overall, “Allison & Lillia: Generation 1″ is an enjoyable series for those wanting something more story-driven and a series that is not too flashy when it comes to presentation. For those familiar with Keiichi Sigsawa’s work on “Kino’s Journey” will know that his work thus far is about the story, the adventures and the characters. So, people can expect something similar but this time focusing more on different generations of characters which will definitely interesting how this storyline plays out in the second volume.

Filed Under: Anime on DVD

Needless: Collection 2 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray review)

May 6, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Needless: Collection 2″ (The final twelve episodes) continues the action, fan-service and perversion of the series that fans enjoyed from the first half. Much more deeper, much more action, “Needless: Collection 2″ reveals how the Adam’s came to be, what happened to Cruz’ sister and the fate of Blade and the team. Recommended!

TITLE: Needless: Collection 2

DURATION: Episodes 13-24 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 2.0 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14 VLD

COMPANY: Showgate/Sentai Filmworks

RELEASE DATE: April 12, 2011

Originally Created by Kami Imai

Directed by Masayuki Sakoi

Series Composition by Satoru Nishizono

Screenplay by Satoru Nishizono and Yuki Enatsu

Music by Masaaki Iizuka, Tatsuya Katou

Character Design by Hiromi Kato

Art Director: Yuka Okamoto

Chief Animation Director: Kazuo Watanabe, Yoshio Kosakai

Anime Production: Madhouse Studios

Featuring the voices of:

Aya Endo/Luci Christian as Cruz Schild

Eri Kitamura/Brittney Karbowski as Eve Neuschwanstein

Takehito Koyasu/Andrew Love as Adam Blade

Asami Imai/Elizabeth Bunch as Solva

Emiri Katou/Serena Gonzalez as Disc

Hiroki Touchi/David Matranga as Adam Arclight

Kaori Fukuhara/Maggie Flecknoe as Seto

Kenji Utsumi/David Wald as Gido

Kentarou Itou/Rob Mungle as Momiji Teruyama

Kishô Taniyama/Leraldo Anzaldua as Saten

Mariya Ise/Carli Mosier as Aruka Schild

Megumi Toyoguchi/Taylor Hannah as Riru Rōkakuji

Minori Chihara/Raven Hand as Kuchinashi

Saori Goto/Jessica Boone as Setsuna

Yui Makino/Hilary Haag as Mio

Adam Arklight and his band of super-hotties are ready to take over the world, but not if the macho, mutant hero Blade has anything to say about it. Still, it’s tough when your opponents are ridiculously cute girls in really sexy school uniforms. But with this much at stake maybe even Blade can keep his mind on the job and his eyes on the prize. (Yeah, right.)

In 2004, the manga series “Needless” was published for the first time on Shueisha’s Seinen magazine “Ultra Jump”. Created by Kami Imai (also creator of “Katatsumuri-chan” and “Shirasunamura”), a total of eleven volumes have been published. By 2009, “Needless” would receive its 24-episode TV anime adaptation courtesy of Madhouse.

The anime series would be directed by Masayuki Sakoi (“Kamen no Maid Guy”, “Spice and Wolf”, “Princess Resurrection”), series composition by Satoru Nishizono (“Duel Masters”, “Mazinkaiser”, “Naruto”, “Sgt. Frog”), character designs by Hiromi Kato (“6 Angels”, “CLAMP in Wonderland 2″, “Bush Baby”) and art background by Yuka Okamoto (“Kamen no Maid Guy”, “Princess Resurrection”, “Trigun”, “Ichigo 100%”).

And now the series has been released in America courtesy of Sentai Filmworks on Blu-ray and DVD. Collection 1 feature the first 12 episodes, was released in Feb. 2011, Collection 2 features second half of 12-episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs.

“Needless” Back-Story

“Needless” takes place sometime in the 21st century when World War III has taken place all over the world and a power bomb was detonated. Half a century later, the highly contaminated crater where the bomb was detonated became a black hole in Japan, known as “The Black Spot”.

Suddenly people from that black spot began to appear. They were treated as undesirable from people of other cities because among those undesirables were people who were able to wield superhuman powers. The ability to control these powers, fragments and these people with special abilities became known as “Needless”.

The series begins with Cruz Schild, a young boy running away with his sister Aruka. Both have are wanted by the Simeon and are being hunted down by a Testament. Aruka was able to save Cruz from danger but Cruz believes that his sister died in battle.

When Cruz was about to be hunted down, he is quickly rescued by the mysterious Adam Blade and Eve Neuschwanstein. When it is explained that he is the last surviving person of the rebellion, Adam takes him in with their group (as a gopher). But when word gets out to the Simeon that Adam Blade has rescued Cruz, other powerful Needless are anxious to take on Adam Blade and his group and kill them.

Leading the group of Simeon is Adam Arclight, a spitting image of Adam Blade who is a clone that was rejected and was supposed to be destroyed. Because of that, he harbors a hatred towards Adam Blade (for being the successful clone) and hatred towards the scientists who created him. Now he has created an empire in the Black Spot, having his Four Strongest of Simeon and other Needless scouring the land for other Needless. His goal is to obtain Blade’s body because his own body is unstable from absorbing the powers of captured Needless, making him absolutely powerful.

“Needless: Collection 1″ features Adam Blade’s group taking on various Needless who are on the Simeon side including the Simeon Girl Force but while traveling, the group recruit other Needless who are willing to join Adam Blade’s side and take on Adam Arclight and the Simeon Needless.

“Needless: Collection 2″ kicks off where the last episode ended with the Simeon Girl Force nearly slaughtering everyone in Adam Blade’s team thanks to a Simeon controlled Eve. As everyone thought they were able to save Eve from mind control, it was all a ruse and with Eve’s doppelganger technique, she was able to nearly impale everyone.

Meanwhile, Cruz learns the truth of what happened to his older sister, Aruka Schild and we learn more about the past of Adam Blade, Adam Arclight, Eve and Saten.

This all leads to a final, long-awaited battle between Blade vs. Arclight.

“Needless” features the following characters:

THE MISFITS (BLADE FACTION)

Adam Balde- A destroyer priest who lives in the church in sector. He sports a metal collar with the character “079.AB” on his neck. Adam has superhuman strength and endurance, a skeletal structure with a special metal known as “Orichalum” and a quick healing factor. He also has the ability to learn an enemies ability and is a bit perverted.
Eve Neuschwanstein – Blade’s partner who is bad at names and is an excellent fighter. She has the power to create a “doppelganger” and shapeshift into whatever she wants. Her power can last long when she drinks an energy drink known as “Super Gel Dero Doro” because it carries 5000 kilocalories. For some reason, the enemy is wanting to capture her.
Cruz Schild - A young boy who escaped with his sister Aruka. While Cruz was rescued by Adam, his sister Aruka is thought to be killed. Cruz accompanies Adam and Eve in a gopher type of capacity. Very smart for his age.
Dr. Gido - An elderly scientist who has helped Adam and Eve.
Disk – A cyborg from Iron Mountain who has the appearance of a girl but she is actually 100 years old. She has the power to scan enemies and learn their power and also measurements.
Momiji Teruyama - A flame Needless who wants to fight Blade to avenge his fallen comrades. But when he mistakes Adam Blade for Adam Arclight, due to the damage he created during their fight and unable to pay for it, he is forced to join Adam’s group.

SIMEON UPPER MANAGEMENT (ARCLIGHT FACTION)

The main antagonists of the series.

Adam Arclight – Identical in appearance to Adam Blade, Arclight is the clone of The Second. He also wears a metal collar which features the engraving “078.AA”. Because his right eye and heart rejected the cloned cells of The Second, he is deemed as a failure clone and was supposed to be destroyed. Instead, he made himself powerful and now hunts down Adam Blade and the other members of the resistance. (note: I have seen spelling of the last name as “Arclight” and “Arklight”)
Riru Roukakuji – A well-endowed woman who is one of the four strongest of the Simeon and is Adam Arclight’s right hand person. She leads the Simeon Girl Force.
Mio – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. She looks very young and helpless but in fact, her fragment power is enormous strength. She is often called “Stripes” by Blade because she wears striped underwear.
Setsuna – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. Her fragment power is speed and is the leader of the group.
Kuchinashi – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. Her fragment power is fragrance and is able to control a person’s brain and body functions when they inhale the fragrance she emits. She is unable to speak and writes down what she wants to say.
Saten – One of Arklight’s four strong Simeon and his right hand man. He seems to have his own agenda and may have feelings for Eve.
Riru Roukakuji – One of the four strong Simeon and the leader of the Simeon Girl Force. Known for her power “Psychokinesis” and also being well-endowed. She is deeply in love with Adam Arclilght.

VIDEO:

“Needless: Collection 1″ is presented in 1080p High Definition. Madhouse did a very good job with the animation for this film. The character design for the series varies from sexy to action-packed craziness! For a TV series, the character designs have a good amount of shading, the color palette is vibrant and the artistic backgrounds of a post-apocalyptic Earth was well-done! Even when you see vehicles or buildings, they are painted quite well, the backgrounds for not just the characters but vehicles and other objects are well-shaded. And every character was drawn with emotion and detail as well.

I actually did a test to compare the Blu-ray and DVD version of “Needless” and the Blu-ray is so colorful and vibrant, I was quite impressed. The DVD version actually had compression and I was pleased that none of that showed up during my viewing of the Blu-ray. I did not see any distortions, artifacting, haloing, edge enhancement during my viewing of “Needless: Collection 1″. Overall, solid PQ for this anime series!

AUDIO:

“Needless: Collection 2″ is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Both lossless soundtracks were very good. Would have loved for it to be a 5.1 or higher soundtrack but if you have a receiver, you can easily make all channels to stereo for a more immersive soundscape. I watched the series both in English and Japanese and I felt that both were well-done.

The primary difference is that I sense a bit of “valley girl” in the English dub for some of the Simeon female warriors but for the most part, I think those who prefer to watch in Japan or English will feel the acting was well-done for both and actually for this series, I enjoyed the English dub over the Japanese vocal track.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Needless: Collection 2″ comes with the following special features:

The Secret of Saint Lilly Academy – Featuring the following final six fan service driven short episodes as Cruz continues to live in an all female dorm room, disguised as a female student.
Needless Information – Information on certain words used throughout the series.
Production Sketches – Featuring production sketches playing along with along with the opening theme music.
Textless Opening and Closing Songs – The textless opening and ending theme songs.
Trailers – Sentai Filmworks trailers.

When I reviewed “Needless: Collection 1″, I talked about how this fan-service anime series took me by surprise because aside from the fun and risque situations that the characters find themselves in, by episode 10-12, things became more dire, more bloody, violent and a little dark.

Here we are with “Needless: Collection 2″ continuing the storyline of what happened to Adam Blade’s team after a mind-controlled Eve who is with the Simeon Girl Force, has literally impaled many members of the team. And because of this, I felt the anime series really was a shocker.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the viewer), not many people stay dead in the series. There are many who die, are brought back to life and in the second half, it seems to repeat itself quite a bit that I was a wee bit disappointed because I found myself asking… “Does anyone ever stay dead in ‘Needless’?”.

Aside from the dying and resurrections, a positive of the second half of the series is we get to learn more about what really happened at the resistance with Cruz and Aruka. And what really happened to Aruka. We are also taken to the distant past to learn about how both Adam’s and Eve and a few others were developed and how Dr. Seto played a part in the development of Blade, Arklight and Eve.

And there are other twist and turns along the way which leads to the final battle against Adam Arklight.

As for the Blu-ray release, the fact that this release does have special features, especially the perverted “The Secret of Saint Lilly Academy Shorts” was rather amusing. You also get production sketches and the usual textless opening and ending theme.

The second half still continues to showcase plenty of panty shots, so those who love anime series with plenty of fan service will no doubt enjoy “Needless”. I will say that the first half was a little more risque compared to the second half of the series.

While I did enjoy the whole entire series, and while the first half of the series was very exciting, the second half was still a very entertaining second half with a lot of action (yes, more action than the first). If there were two things that irked me a bit though with the second half is that no one really stayed dead. I would have felt the series would have true impact if characters stayed dead and not being constantly revived. The other is how the series ended. While, the series does give closure to how things end, I wished a little more time was given to how the series would close out. I felt that too much was crammed in for the final minutes of the series.

But I can understand why the female characters were constantly revived as these characters, with their scantily-clad outfits, I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Needless” figures are quite popular in Japan and that many otaku have become fixated on a certain character. The finale still provides closure, I just wanted a bit more storyline. But I can easily say that these two collections of “Needless” were exciting, fun and I found myself watching episode after episode because they were enjoyable and addicting.

If you are looking for an anime series that is action-driven but also has its share of comedy, perversion and fan-service, look no further, “Needless: Collection 1 and 2″ on Blu-ray is for you!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Needless: Collection 1 (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray review)

April 28, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Needless: Collection 1″ is an anime series that features action-packed battles, cool characters, violence, perversion, comedy, drama, fan-service…you name it! There are so many things happening in this anime series but in a good way! The anime series is colorful and vibrant on Blu-ray and the voice acting is well-done on both lossless soundtracks. If you are looking for an action-packed anime series with a lot of fan service, definitely give “Needless” a try!

TITLE: Needless: Collection 1

DURATION: Episodes 1-12 (300 Minutes)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition 16×9 HD Native, Dolby TrueHD English 2.0 and Dolby TrueHD Japanese 2.0, Subtitles: English

RATED: TV 14 VLD

COMPANY: Showgate/Sentai Filmworks

RELEASE DATE: February 15, 2011

Originally Created by Kami Imai

Directed by Masayuki Sakoi

Series Composition by Satoru Nishizono

Screenplay by Satoru Nishizono and Yuki Enatsu

Music by Masaaki Iizuka, Tatsuya Katou

Character Design by Hiromi Kato

Art Director: Yuka Okamoto

Chief Animation Director: Kazuo Watanabe, Yoshio Kosakai

Anime Production: Madhouse Studios

Featuring the voices of:

Aya Endo/Luci Christian as Cruz Schild

Eri Kitamura/Brittney Karbowski as Eve Neuschwanstein

Takehito Koyasu/Andrew Love as Adam Blade

Asami Imai/Elizabeth Bunch as Solva

Emiri Katou/Serena Gonzalez as Disc

Hiroki Touchi/David Matranga as Adam Arclight

Kaori Fukuhara/Maggie Flecknoe as Seto

Kenji Utsumi/David Wald as Gido

Kentarou Itou/Rob Mungle as Momiji Teruyama

Kishô Taniyama/Leraldo Anzaldua as Saten

Mariya Ise/Carli Mosier as Aruka Schild

Megumi Toyoguchi/Taylor Hannah as Riru Rōkakuji

Minori Chihara/Raven Hand as Kuchinashi

Saori Goto/Jessica Boone as Setsuna

Yui Makino/Hilary Haag as Mio

They’re called Needless – mutants who wield amazing powers such as super speed, the ability to change form, and some, like Blade, the power to “learn” other opponent’s powers. It’s Blade’s greatest ability, but is it powerful enough to overcome his weakness for cute young girls in revealing little skirts?

And now the series has been released in America courtesy of Sentai Filmworks on Blu-ray and DVD. Collection 1 features the first 12-episodes on 2 Blu-ray discs.

“Needless” features the following characters:

THE MISFITS (BLADE FACTION)

Adam Balde- A destroyer priest who lives in the church in sector. He sports a metal collar with the character “079.AB” on his neck. Adam has superhuman strength and endurance, a skeletal structure with a special metal known as “Orichalum” and a quick healing factor. He also has the ability to learn an enemies ability and is a bit perverted.
Eve Neuschwanstein – Blade’s partner who is bad at names and is an excellent fighter. She has the power to create a “doppelganger” and shapeshift into whatever she wants. Her power can last long when she drinks an energy drink known as “Super Gel Dero Doro” because it carries 5000 kilocalories. For some reason, the enemy is wanting to capture her.
Cruz Schild - A young boy who escaped with his sister Aruka. While Cruz was rescued by Adam, his sister Aruka is thought to be killed. Cruz accompanies Adam and Eve in a gopher type of capacity. Very smart for his age.
Gido - An elderly scientist who helps Adam and Eve.
Disk – A cyborg from Iron Mountain who has the appearance of a girl but she is actually 100 years old. She has the power to scan enemies and learn their power and also measurements.
Momiji Teruyama - A flame Needless who wants to fight Blade to avenge his fallen comrades. But when he mistakes Adam Blade for Adam Arclight, due to the damage he created during their fight and unable to pay for it, he is forced to join Adam’s group.

SIMEON UPPER MANAGEMENT (ARCLIGHT FACTION)

The main antagonists of the series.

Adam Arclight – Identical in appearance to Adam Blade, Arclight is the clone of The Second. He also wears a metal collar which features the engraving “078.AA”. Because his right eye and heart rejected the cloned cells of The Second, he is deemed as a failure clone and was supposed to be destroyed. Instead, he made himself powerful and now hunts down Adam Blade and the other members of the resistance. (note: I have seen spelling of the last name as “Arclight” and “Arklight”)
Riru Roukakuji – A well-endowed woman who is one of the four strongest of the Simeon and is Adam Arclight’s right hand person. She leads the Simeon Girl Force.
Mio – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. She looks very young and helpless but in fact, her fragment power is enormous strength.
Setsuna – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. Her fragment power is speed and is the leader of the group.
Kuchinashi – One of the members of The Simeon Girl Force. Her fragment power is fragrance and is able to control a person’s brain and body functions when they inhale the fragrance she emits. She is unable to speak and writes down what she wants to say.

VIDEO:

AUDIO:

“Needless: Collection 1″ is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Both lossless soundtracks were very good. Would have loved for it to be a 5.1 or higher soundtrack but if you have a receiver, you can easily make all channels to stereo for a more immersive soundscape. I watched the series both in English and Japanese and I felt that both were well-done. The primary difference is that I sense a bit of “valley girl” in the English dub for some of the Simeon female warriors but for the most part, I think those who prefer to watch in Japan or English will feel the acting was well-done for both.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Needless: Collection 1″ comes with the following special features:

The Secret of Saint Lilly Academy – Featuring the following six fan service driven short episodes: Infiltration (2:19) – Why is Cruz Schild dressed like a female student?; Short Shorts (2:19) – Cruz must continue to pretend as a girl while wearing bloomers; The Nurse’s Office (2:19) – Why is Kuchinashi laying naked next to Cruz (who is still disguised as a girl)?; Strip Rock-Paper-Scissors (2:19) – Cruz still in disguise, must take part in a strip rock-paper-scissors game; Swimsuit (2:19) – It’s a hot summer and the girls want to go swimming but how will Cruz maintain his disguise?; Calvary Battle in the Water (2:19) – A disguised Cruz takes part in a swimming battle at Saint Lilly Academy of who has the rights to the pool.
Needless Information – Information on certain words used throughout the series.
Character Sketches – (3:02) Featuring character design sketches playing along with along with the opening theme music.
Textless Opening and Closing Songs – The textless opening and ending theme songs.
Trailers – Sentai Filmworks trailers.

What a surprise “Needless” turned out to be!

Action-packed battles, cool characters, violence, perversion, comedy, drama, fan-service…you name it! There are so many things happening in this anime series but in a good way!

Before I watched this anime series, I was looking at the cover artwork and at first, I felt this was going to be a softcore anime series. Tons of panty shots, ripped clothing and the usual banality of titillating otaku action-anime series with female characters who battle. In fact, I was expecting something along the lines of “Ikkitousen” but with killer weapons.

In fact, I was told that the manga series was different from the anime series in the fact that you do get more fan service in the anime and a few storyline changes but for the most part, the anime series was much more perverted versus its manga counterpart.

For the most part, you do get a lot of shredded clothing, near nudity, fan service. And while the series does start out to be a more comedy/action-based anime series which tries to incorporate as many hilarious and perverted scenes as possible, the storyline starts to switch gears once you get to the 10th episode. No more half-assed battles between Blade’s group and the Simeon Girl Force, things get serious to the point where characters are getting killed, impaled, you start to see more blood, needless to say, I was pretty shocked of how the storyline switched its tempo from lighthearted comedy to more dire circumstances and leaving the viewer wanting more.

Fortunately, “Needless: Collection 2″ is available now on Blu-ray and DVD, so no need to wait!

As for the Blu-ray release, the fact that this release does have special features, especially the perverted “The Secret of Saint Lilly Academy Shorts” was rather amusing. You also get sketches and the usual textless opening and ending theme.

But overall, “Needless: Collection 1″ turned out to be one exciting series! Yeah, it does have its share of perversion but there is a lot of action and the characters are quite fun to watch! Especially to see the battle between both groups. In some way, it did remind me a little of the CLAMP “X” anime film in terms of two groups battling it out and how things got dire quickly. But of course the primary difference is that the film version of “X” never focused on perversion or comedy, “Needless” incorporates a a good amount of situations that keep the viewer interested.

If you are looking for an anime series that is action-driven but also has its share of comedy, perversion and fan-service, look no further, “Needless: Collection 1″ on Blu-ray is for you!

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray

Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season (a J!-ENT Anime Blu-ray Disc Review)

March 24, 2010 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Gunslinger Girl” is an anime series for those looking for a series that is more serious and dramatic but also incorporating action. As a Blu-ray release, the shining point of this release is its lossless English and Japanese audio.

TITLE: Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season

DURATION: 13 Episodes (325 Minutes)

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), Dolby TrueHD English and Japanese 5.1, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: March 16, 2010

Originally created by Yu Aida

Directed by Morio Asaka

Series Composition by Junki Takegami

Music by Toshihiko Sahashi

Character Design by Hisashi Abe

Art Director: Hisashi Ikeda

Anime Production by Madhouse Studios

Featuring the following voice talent:

Ami Koshimizu/Alese Watson as Claes

Eri Sendai/Caitlin Glass as Triela

Hitomi Terakado/Monica Rial as Angelica

Kanako Mitsuhashi/Luci Christian as Rico

Yuuka Nanri/Laura Bailey as Henrietta

Brina Palencia/Mamiko Noto as Elsa

Cynthia Cranz/Rie Nakagawa as Ferro

Dameon Clarke/Masashi Ebara as Hirscher (Hilshire)

Eric Vale/Mitsuru Miyamoto as Jean

Jim Fornoda/Norihiro Inoue as Marco

John Burgmeier/Hidenobu Kiuchi as Jose

Troy Baker/Masami Iwasaki as Alfonso

Officially, the Social Welfare Agency is a government sponsored corporation that’s in the business of saving lives. In reality, it’s an agency on the fringe of technology. They give terminal patients another shot at life using cybernetic implants. This conditioning process then shapes the patient into an efficient machine for handling all of the government’s dirty work.

In 2002, mangaka Yu Aida had her first manga “Gunslinger Girl” published in the monthly shonen magazine “Dengeki Daioh”. A year later, her manga series was adapted into a 13-episode anime television series airing on Fuji TV. The manga and anime series would continue with another 13-episode anime television series titled “Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-” in 2008 and has also inspired video games for the Sony PlayStation 2.

The “Gunslinger Girl” anime series would feature anime production by Madhouse Studios and feature Morio Asaka as the director (“Chobits”, “Rozen Maiden”, “Street Fighter”, “Galaxy Angel”) and series composition by Junki Takegami (“Aoki Densetsu Shoot!”, “Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor”, “Inuyasha”, “Naruto Shippuden”). Character design would be by Hisashi Abe (“Chobits”, “Spirit Warrior”, “Devil May Cry”), art direction by Hisashi Ikeda (“Millenium Actress”, “Perfect Blue”, “Ghost in the Shell”) and music by Toshihiko Sahashi (“Hunter x Hunter”, “Fullmetal Panic!”, “Mobile Suit Gundam Seed”).

The series has been released several times by FUNimation Entertainment on DVD but the series makes its High Definition on Blu-ray along with the sequel “Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino” which both were released on March 16, 2010.

“Gunslinger Girl” revolves around the Social Welfare Agency which is a charitable institution sponsored by the Italian government. Known by the public to help those who are physically injured, the truth is that the agency is a a military organization that specializes in counter-intelligence and counter terrorism. Their soldiers, young orphan girls enhanced with cybernetic implants and are taught to kill and pare of the SWA’s “Section 2″.

The girls have synthesized muscle implants giving them super-human strength and reflexes, as well as the ability to be resilient to any damage. Each of these girls are partnered with a trainer/handler and together they are known as a “fratello”. Some handlers are caring for the girls they are partnered with but for the agency, they look at these girls as weapons and also as expendable.

The main characters of “Gunslinger Girl” are:

Henrietta/Jose – Henrietta’s family were massacred and she was assaulted and left for dead. She has suffered from psychological trauma and had wanted to die. But since being brainwashed and conditioned for the agency, she is an assassin who feels a strong bond with Jose and cares deeply for him. As for Jose Croce, his counterparts think he has gotten to close emotionally with Henrietta.
Rico – Born with severe birth defects, she was signed over to the agency by her parents when she turned 11. But since joining and receiving a new body with the agency, she is happy. She is the only cyborg girl with memories of her past life.
Triela - Rebellious and masculine, she is one of the elder Cyborg girls that tries to help her counterparts. But for some reason, she is losing her memory.
Claes - A peaceful cyborg who is used more as a test subject since the death of her handler. Claes enjoys gardening and reading books more than engaging in violence.
Angelica - A girl that was nearly killed by her father trying to collect insurance, Angelica is the first cyborg of the agency.

“Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season” consists of 13-episodes on two Blu-ray discs. Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – fratello – We are introduced to Henrietta and her handler Jose and learn about how Jose cares for his cyborg while his counterparts feel he’s getting to emotionally close to her.
EPISODE 2 – orione – Jose’s caring for Henrietta wants to give her another perspective of life outside of murdering.
EPISODE 3 – ragazzo – We are introduced to Rico and her handler Jean and both go on a mission.
EPISODE 4 – bambola – It’s Christmas time and Triela is sent on a mission.
EPISODE 5 – promessa – We learn about a cyborg named Claes and her handler Raballo.
EPISODE 6 – gelato – Henrietta, Rico and Triela go out on a mission.
EPISODE 7 – protezione – Rico and Jean meet a man named Filippo and go on a tour through Florence.
EPISODE 8 – il Principe del Regno Della Pasta – We are introduced to Angelica and her handler Marco.
EPISODE 9 – Lycoris Radiata Herb (Cluster Amaryllis) – We are introduced to a cyborg named Elsa and her handler Lauro.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 10 – amare – Cyborgs and their handlers discover news about the death of one of their cyborg’s and handler’s.
EPISODE 11 – febbre alta – Continuing the storyline as Jose and Henrietta try to learn about the deaths of a cyborg and her handler.
EPISODE 12 – simbiosi – Angelica is injured during training and now the head of the Social Welfare Agency questions the value of Section 2.
EPISODE 13 – stella cadente – The cyborg girls go see a meteor shower.

VIDEO:

When “Gunslinger Girl” was released on DVD, I know that when I first saw this series, I was happy about how this series tried to capture the settings of Italy, the pureness of the faces of the cyborg girls and then the violence and action sequences.

With that being said, this upconvert on Blu-ray is what one would expect from a series released in 2003. You’re not going to get vibrant colors, you are going to see edge enhancement and truthfully, unless it was released 2008 or later, you’re not going to get gorgeous HD picture quality from this television series. And it’s important that people know it’s a TV series and not a film or OVA which tend to have much more production and a bigger budget in terms of animation and artistic backgrounds.

With that being said, the painted artistic backgrounds are well-done and the character designs (especially facial expressions) based on Yu Aida’s work is also well-done. There is some artifacting and aliasing but I didn’t catch any discoloration problems and I believe the series utilizes DNR (Digital Noise Reduction).

There is a hazy look towards “Gunslinger Girl” but there are episodes such as the final episode that utilizes earthtone colors that do pop but for the most part, the series is not exactly too vibrant but somehow, the look and feel tends to work well with this series.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season” features lossless Dolby TrueHD English and Japanese 5.1.

Anime fans have been wanting lossless audio for their Blu-rays especially for the Japanese soundtrack and so far, FUNimation Entertainment has listened with “Ouran High School” and “Gunslinger Girl” series on Blu-ray both receiving lossless Japanese audio.

But I had the opportunity to test out the audio tracks on both vocal tracks and although the series is dialogue/front-channel driven, when the series does include gunfire and machine guns, that is where you will notice the use of the surround channels. Lossless audio is well-done during those action sequences. Also, a good amount of ambient noise such as dogs barking to footsteps can be heard through the surround channel as well.

As for the music, the music is also integrated into the surround channels as well. “Gunslinger Girl” definitely takes advantage of the beautiful musical scores by using it on the surround channels. I don’t recall hearing much LFE though. The series is pretty much center, front and surround channel driven.

As for subtitles, subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season” contains the following special features on disc 2:

DISC 2:

Building Henrietta – (1:05) A musical feature showing how the character of Henrietta is colored and shaded including her weapons and accessories.
Building Rico- (1:07) A musical feature showing how the character of Rico is colored and shaded including her weapons and accessories.
Meet the Real Gunslinger Girls: A featurette featuring the English voice dub actresses talking about their characters including Henrietta (Laura Bailey, 4:42), Claes (Alese Watson, 3:00), Angelica (Monica Rial, 4:44), Rico (Luci Christian, 4:48) and Triela (Caitlin Glass, 4:17).
“Simbiosi” Production Commentary – Audio commentary by the production crew in regards to “Simbiosi” episode and discussion of Italy and writing the English dub for the show and mixing the audio.
“Simbiosi” Voice Director Commentary - Audio commentary by director and voice talents Christopher Sabat, Laura Bailey, Chris Bevins and Eric Vale. The four discuss their involvement directing the show.
Dossiers: Dossiers for Henrietta, Claes, Angelica, Rico and Triela. With your remote, you can view text-based information of each character.
Textless Sons – Textless theme songs for the Opening theme “The Light Before We Land” and the Closing theme “Dop Il Sogno”.
Trailers - FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

“Gunslinger Girl” is an interesting anime series and some may find comparisons to Yu Aida’s work with Naoki Urasawa’s “Monster” in that children are being used by their government as weapons.

The series is not your typical jovial or comedy-driven anime series and nor is lighthearted. The series is about a group of girls who have been brainwashed and cybernetically enhanced to become assassins. But even with their brainwashing, these young girls have been damaged emotionally and psychologically.

This first season focuses on the girls dynamics with one another but also how they interact with their handlers. Some who feel possessive of their handlers and some who push them away. If anything, the series does feature these girls on missions but deep inside, these girls have suffered some unfortunate situations and although wiped out from their memory, you can’t help but feel bad for them because they tend to have emotions that they don’t understand.

In a way, I’m happy to see this serious released on Blu-ray for the fact that many have clamored for an anime TV series on Blu-ray that is much more serious and dramatic. The good news is that “Gunslinger Girl – The Complete First Season” and its sequel “Gunslinger Girl ~Il Teatrino~ – The Complete Series” fits that bill, the bad news for those expecting the latest and best looking anime series on Blu-ray are not going to be happy that these two series are slightly older series that are being upconverted to BD.

So far, there have been a split of anime fans. Those who just want anime on 1080p and are satisfied to have anime on Blu-ray and those who are not thrilled to see upconverts and want native-HD anime on Blu-ray. For me, I’m in the middle and can easily understand both sides.

But I’m not going to complain. “Gunslinger Girl” was a popular series and yes, it has been released several times on DVD but you’re getting a Blu-ray release with slightly better visuals but much better audio quality with both English and Japanese soundtrack provided via lossless. Also, you get a good number of special features in this release.

So, if you have never owned this series on DVD or looking to upgrade your collection to Blu-ray, “Gunslinger Girl – The Complete Series” is an anime series worth considering for your anime on BD collection.

Filed Under: Anime on Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews

Claymore: The Complete Series (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

November 5, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

Definitely one of the best anime series I have watched in 2009 thus far. “Claymore” is a violent, dark fantasy anime series that is gripping, action-packed, well-animated and well-written. I was totally engrossed by the whole series from beginning to end. Based on the popular ongoing manga series, if you want a solid and well-done anime series, let alone a solid DVD release, look no further… “Claymore” is fantastic!

TITLE: Claymore – The Complete Series

DURATION: 26 Episodes (650 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: English 5.1 Dolby Surround Stereo, Japanese Stereo

COMPANY: Madhouse Studios/FUNimation Entertainment

RATED: TV MA

Originally created by Norihiro Yagi

Directed by Hiroyuki Tanaka

Series Composition by Yasuko Kobayashi

Storyboards by Yuto Sato

Music by Masanori Takumi

Character Design by Takahiro Umehara

Art Director: Manabu Otsuzuki

Art Design by Nobuto Sue

Sound Director by Yasunori Honda

Produced by Manabu Tamura, Masao Maruyama and Toshio Nakatani

Animation by Madhouse Studios

Featuring the following voice talent:

Houko Kuwashima/Stephanie Young as Clare

Motoki Takagi/Todd Haberkorn as Raki

Aya Hisakawa/Brina Palencia as Priscilla

Hana Takeda/Caitlin Glass as Deneve

Hiroaki Hirata/R Bruce Elliott as Rubel

Kikuko Inoue/Monica Rial as Miria

Koji Yusa/John Swasey as Isley

Miho Miyagawa/Anastasia Munoz as Cynthia

Miki Nagasawa/Jamie Marchi as Helen

Nana Mizuki/Brittney Karbowski as Riful

Romi Paku/Christine Auten as Teresa

Ai Orikasa/Colleen Clinkenbeard as Galatea

Akeno Watanabe as Veronica

Akira Ishida as Zaki

Ayako Kawasumi/Wendy Powell as Elena

Cho as Ermita

A brutal scourge stalks the land. Yoma, monsters driven by a hunger satisfied by only one quarry: Humanity. The dark breed knows but a singular foe: Claymore. Human-Yoma hybrids of extraordinary strength and cunning, the Claymores roam from skirmish to skirmish delivering salvation by the edge of a blade.

Thus begins the twisting tale of Clare, one such sister of the sword driven by pain in both victory and defeat. A child silent and suffering hidden in her past, Clare’s march toward vengeance unfolds along a path marked by violence, solitude and scorn. In a land where even the predator is prey, the haunted hearts of hunter and hunted alike wear the scars of the age.

In 2001, the manga series “Claymore” debuted on Monthly Shonen Jump. The popular series created by award-winning mangaka Norihiro Yagi (“Undeadman”, “Angel Densetsu”).

The series has remained popular and is still ongoing in Japan via Jump Square. Animation studio Madhouse adapted the first eleven volumes of the manga series in the 26-episode anime series “Claymore” which debuted on NTV in 2007.

“Claymore” takes place during a time where monsters known as yoma have lived in villages, disguising themselves as human. They feed on humans and when things get to the point where countless murders are happening in a village, a mysterious organization sends a Claymore to dispose of the Yoma.

The Claymore are humans that are half-human and half-yoma. They are the only ones that are capable of defeating yoma and are primarily female, blonde and have silver eyes. They carry with them a sword and some have supernatural abilities.

Upon defeating the yoma, someone in black collects the money for them. If a village does not pay, a Claymore will no longer defend the city. Claymore also have a rule that they can not kill any humans and also, as a Claymore tries to keep their humanity, by using their supernatural talent, they unleash their own personal yoma but each time they do that, they lose part of their humanity.

The animated series focuses on the Claymore known as Clare. She comes to a village who has been terrorized by a yoma and defeats it. But a boy named Raki becomes attached to Clare and will follow her everywhere to become close to her.

Clare is warned not to have a human close to her but for some reason, she allows him to be close to her and also feels protective over him. Over the course of the series, we learn about Clare’s history and why she is protective of Raki. We also learn what happens to Claymore who overuse their yoma energy and when they become the “awakened” and much, much more.

The main characters of “Claymore” are:

Clare – The protagonist of the story. A Claymore who may be low-ranked Claymore but she is more powerful than most. At times, reserved and emotionless, her life is changed when she meets a human named Raki.

Raki - A boy who’s family was murdered by the yoma. When he first meets Clare, he is the first and only person to welcome her and now wants to be by her side.

Teresa – A woman important in Clare’s life. Known as “Teresa with the Faint Smile”, once was the #1 Claymore and is the most powerful Claymore who is emotionless but that was until she came across a human girl named Clare.

Priscilla – A true believer of the laws of the Organization, she has a tremendous amount of power but has not been trained to utilize it quite well. Priscilla uses a lot of her yoma energy that changes her life completely.

Miria – Phantom Miria known for her tremendous speed. Suspects that the Organization is up to no good and although a Claymore, uses her position to investigate the Organization of any wrongdoing.

Ilena – A Claymore from Clare’s past who is known for her “Quick Sword Technique” and returns back to Clare’s life to give her another chance in achieving her goal.

The following 26-episodes are featured on six DVD’s. Here is a spoiler-less summary of each episode of “Claymore”:

DISC 1:

EPISODE 1 – Great Sword – The introduction of Clare and Raki.
EPISODE 2 – The Black Card – Clare receives a black card and that means that they must terminate one of their own. But what happens when Clare discovers that the Claymore she must defeat is her closest friend.
EPISODE 3 – The Darkness in Paradise – Clare must take on a “Voracious Eater” but the problem is the city doesn’t allow Claymores.
EPISODE 4 – Clare’s Awakening – Clare takes on the “Voracious Eater”.
EPISODE 5 – Teresa of the Faint Smile - We learn about Clare’s past and how she attached herself to a Claymore named Teresa, the #1 Claymore in the organization.

DISC 2:

EPISODE 6 – Teresa and Clare – We learn of how Teresa became fond of Clare and has protected her. But when bandits murder innocents in a town and intend to kill Clare, Teresa makes a decision that will alter her status as a Claymore.
EPISODE 7 – Marked for Death – With Teresa making a decision to defy the organization in order to protect Clare, Claymores #2-#5 must kill her.
EPISODE 8 – Awakening – The episode that introduces to how Clare became a Claymore.
EPISODE 9 – Those Who Rend Asunder I – Clare is assigned to take on an “awakened beings” and is teamed up with Miria, Helen and Deneve.
EPISODE 10 – Those Who Rend Asunder II – Part two of four Claymores taking on the awakened beast.

DISC 3:

EPISODE 11 – Those who Rend Asunder III – Deneve reveals to the other three Claymores of why she thinks the three of them were assigned the suicide mission.
EPISODE 12 -The Endless Gravestones I – Clare is assigned to go on another mission against another awakened beast but this time, she meets her partner…the bloodthirsty #4 Claymore Ophelia who is intent on murdering Clare and Raki. Clare vs. Ophelia and a mysterious person from the past shows up unexpectedly.
EPISODE 13 – The Endless Gravestones II – Irene trains Clare the “Quick Sword Technique”.
EPISODE 14 – To Be Qualified to Fight – Clare takes on the awakened Ophelia.

DISC 4:

EPISODE 15 – The Witch’s Maw I – The organization sends Galatea to hunt after Clare since Clare has not reported in for three months. As for Clare, she sees a Claymore that looks as if she was mauled and goes to check on the other Claymores.
EPISODE 16 – The Witch’s Maw II – When Clare tries to check on the other Claymore’s she runs into two Awakened Beings – The “Abyssal One” (Riful of the West) and Dauf.
EPISODE 17 – The Witch’s Maw III – In order to beat Dauf, the Claymores need Jean’s special ability to defeat Dauf.
EPISODE 18 – The Carnage In the North I – Clare and Jean meet up with 23 other Claymore’s in the North to prepare to fight a horde of Awakened Beings.

DISC 5:

EPISODE 19 – The Carnage in the North II – While the Claymores take on the awakened beings, Raki ends up in a village where he meets Priscilla who takes him to a man named Isley.
EPISODE 20 – The Carnage in the North III – The Claymores talk about their fight after the awakened beings, meanwhile Raki asks Isley to train him on how to use a sword.
EPISODE 21 – Invasion of Pieta I – The Claymores go on to their next major battle against the awakened beings.
EPISODE 22 – Invasion of Pieta II – The Claymores take on Rigardo.

DISC 6:

EPISODE 23 – Critical Point I – Clare takes on Rigardo but uses too much yoma energy which can make her become an awakened being.
EPISODE 24 – Critical Point II – Clare has pushed herself to far using Yoma energy and is unable to revert back to human form. Will the Claymores slay her?
EPISODE 25 – For Whose Sake – Clare’s long time dream of fighting against Priscilla (to avenge the death of Teresa) finally comes true.
EPISODE 26 – To the Successors – The final episode featuring Clare (in awakened form) vs. Priscilla (who is unaware that she is an awakened being).

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Claymore: The Complete Series” is featured in 16×9. “Claymore” is a television series and knowing that most animation studios tend to work on an episode quickly (especially if other animators and staff are working on several titles), this series is done very well. The backgrounds and the characters definitely give this dark fantasy atmosphere to the series. Colors and lighting play a big part in the series and there is a special feature in which this is discussed. But for the most part, the animation and character designs really capture your attention. The scenes are action-packed and the fighting sequences and swordfighting is also well done. “Claymore” definitely features solid animation and I can only hope that this series receives an HD presentation someday.

As for audio, audio is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Japanese stereo. For the most part, voice acting is well done and the fact that there are so many characters in this series, both fans of English voice dubs and Japanese voice acting for anime series can expect some of their favorites involved in this series. Audio is front and center channel driven but for an immersive soundtrack, I had my receiver set on stereo on all channels. I wanted to make sure the action and the growls of the yoma were more immersive but for the most part, both dialogue are well-acted.

Although I tend to watch a lot of anime series with the Japanese voice dub, for “Claymore”, I enjoyed the voice dub for the series because it was more mature in dialogue. For example, the character of Ophelia is one deadly woman and when you see her in pain, she’s cussing up a storm. And this is one of the few times where I felt the “F-word” and profanity was well utilized in an anime series (thus the TV MA rating). There’s no hiding from the pain a lot of these women must endure and so I felt that the dialogue for the English dub was well done and well-written and much more mature than its Japanese counterpart.

Subtitles are in English only.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Claymore – The Complete Series” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

Episode 1 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by voice actress Stephanie Young (who does the voice of Claire), Director and voice actor Todd Habekorn (who does the voice of Raki).
Cast Auditions – Featuring the audio cast auditions for Clare, Teresa, Rubel, Sid and Yomi.
Textless Songs
Trailer – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

DISC 2:

Episode 8 Commentary – Audio commentary featuring voice actress Brina Palencia (who plays Priscilla) and voice actress Wendy Powell (who plays Elena).
Interview with Director Hiroyuki Tanaka – (7:00) Director Hirouki Tanaka talks about his impressions of the manga when he first read it and then being assigned to the series and the challenges he encountered on the series.
Textless Songs
Trailer – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

DISC 3:

Episode 11 Commentary – Audio commentary by line producer and voice actress Colleen Clinkenbeard (who plays Galatea) and voice actress Monica Rial (who plays Miria).
Interview with Sound Director Yasunori Honda – (8:37) Yasunori talks about his responsibilities for the series are for the anime series. Also, his responsible of working with the many voice talent on the series.
Textless Songs
Trailer – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

DISC 4:

Episode 16 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by voice actress Laura Bailey (Jean) and Director Leslie Patrick.
Interview with Art Director Manabu Otsuzaki (Kusanagi) – (6:30) Otsuzaki talks about the use of color in the anime series and what his responsibilities are.
Textless Themes
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

DISC 5:

Episode 19 Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Caitlyn Glass (voice of Deneve) and Jamie Marchi (voice of Helen).
Interview with Art Setting Nobuhito Sue (Kusanagi) – (4:14) Nobuhito Sue talks about his responsibilities for the anime series. Shading of sketches on the computer and creating the guidelines for the animators.
Textless Themes
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

DISC 6:

Episode 26 Commentary – Audio commentary featuring voice actresses Brina Palencia (who does the voice of Priscilla) and Stephanie Young (who does the voice of Clare).
Original TV Commercials – (4:21) Featuring the original Japanese TV commercials.
Textless Themes
Trailers – FUNimation Entertainment trailers

Also, included are two books. One is a 26-page booklet which features a character guide plus a staff interview with Hiroyuki Tanaka (Director) and Ryohei Takahashi (Animation Producer). Plus another interview with Yasunori Honda (Claymore Sound Director), Houko Kuwashima (Voice of Clare) and Motoki Takagi (Voice of Raki).

The second book is 26-pages and continues the character guide plus illustrations and artwork.

My first impression after watching “Claymore” was “WOW!”.

The series reminded me of what I enjoyed with classic anime series such as “Hokuto no Ken” (Fist of the Northstar) and “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures” in which villages are being terrorized by evil beings and hopes for a hero to come and save them. But instead of male characters that kick butt, “Claymore” features a storyline about a group of female warriors that take down the evil monsters. So, that was pretty cool to see in this anime series!

With “Claymore”, what’s interesting is how this dark fantasy manages to capture your attention through the action but also character development and its character designs. The Claymore women (and there are many of them) have each been given a sort of personality that makes them unique in their own way. For the most part, their character designs and their supernatural abilities are very cool and exciting to watch but the fact that these women can easily turn on each other and their certain attitude is quite refreshing to see in an animated series.

This is one of the few anime series that I have seen in 2009 where I literally watched one after the other in a marathon-like setting because the story was so captivating and you just wondered what was going to happen next. Granted, there are a lot of action-based anime series on television right now with a large cast of characters but the fact that “Claymore” is much darker, takes place in a fantasy type of world and the fact that the main protagonists can easily be the antagonist is very different. Just watching how the story arcs are developed with Clare and Raki in the beginning, to Teresa and Clare right after and then back again to see Clare vs. Ophelia and various storylines of multiple Claymores and how violent the series can get but yet maintaining a well-paced, action-packed storyline featuring cool characters is a plus. Typically in an anime series, when a character doesn’t show up that much, you don’t really care for them but somehow the writers managed to make you care about the various Claymore warriors that you wonder when you will see them again.

The manga series is still ongoing in Japan but I just hope that Madhouse Studios continues to make another Claymore series and cover more of the chapters from the manga because for a TV series, I was literally captivated by it. This is definitely one of the best anime TV series I have seen in 2009.

“Claymore: The Complete Series” is a more mature, dark and violent anime series. Granted, it was a TV series, but expect to see a lot of blood and severed limbs from time to time. It’s not disgusting at all but I know some anime viewers may be sensitive to those type of scenes.

Overall, “Claymore: The Complete Series” is an excellent release from FUNimation Entertainment. Plenty of special features, two books included. I was very impressed by the presentation of content and of course, the quality of this television series. This series is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Anime on DVD